World’s largest video game collection for sale

Remember Michael Thommason, the man with the largest video game collection in the world? The New York resident is set to relinquish his crown of ultimate gaming fan, after deciding to put his treasure trove on auction.

Besides the 12,000 games – the largest collection in existence – the successful bidder will receive the Guinness World Record certificate his collection earned, and a lifetime subscription to Retro Magazine. Over 2,600 games in the collection are factory-sealed, with over 8,300 complete with box and manual.

Why is he selling it?

“I simply have an immediate family and extended family that have needs that need to be addressed. While I do not wish to part with these games, I have responsibilities that I have made to others and this auction is how I will help meet them,” said Thommason.

Very magnanimous considering his collection took 30 years and working at several video game stores to build.

This is not the first time Thommason has sold off his collection, though. When he got married in 1998 he had to part with a portion of his pride and joy to finance his wedding.

“I sold off complete collections for the Sega Master System and the TurboGrafx-16 to help fund the event. I have since reacquired most of the games over the years, but some titles such as Magical Chase are still elusive, which is even more funny when one considers the name of the game!”

The auction ends on 16 June at 4:30, and at the time of publication the highest bid was $50,000 (±R535,000).

I think someone needs to get a Kickstarter campaign going to ensure Thommason can keep his collection.